EXCLUSIVE: Haley Bennett Named Face of Chloé Signature Fragrance

The eau de parfum turns 10 this year.

PARIS — Helping to mark its 10-year anniversary, the Chloé signature women’s fragrance has a new face. American actress Haley Bennett will appear in the eau de parfum’s advertising starting this fall, WWD has learned.

Chloë Sevigny, Clémence Poésy and Anja Rubik were the trio to first front the fragrance in 2008, and others like Dree Hemingway and Camille Rowe-Pourcheresse followed in subsequent years.

“This fragrance doesn’t have any other name than Chloé, and therefore whoever embodies the campaign is the ultimate Chloé girl of the moment,” said Geoffroy de la Bourdonnaye, president of Chloé.

The yet-to-be divulged campaign for Chloé’s signature scent will be launched in a 360-degree manner, including a strong digital drive.

In today’s fast-paced world, where consumers’ attention span can often measure a nanosecond, Chloé fragrance has had rare lasting power. Since its launch, 15 million units of the eau de parfum have been purchased.

The Chloé perfume franchise, which also includes L’Eau de Chloé, Roses de Chloé, Chloé Eau de Toilette and Chloé Fleur de Parfum, ranks among the top 13 worldwide and is one of the 10 bestsellers in countries such as Japan, Italy and Germany. In the U.S., its revenues are growing at a rapid clip.

“If you look at the evolution of the business over the last 10 years — not only from a top-line point of view but also in terms of market share and in terms of numbers of markets — it’s a steady increase,” said Edgar Huber, president of Coty Luxury, Chloé’s fragrance licensee.

The Coty fragrance portfolio generates an estimated 180 million euros, or $201.8 million at current exchange, in retail revenues annually, according to industry sources. And the Chloé signature scent remains its bestseller.

“It’s steadily growing, so we have another successful year of Chloé signature in terms of high-single-digit growth in sell-out,” Huber said. “We are modernizing it permanently, and modernizing all the marketing tools because we think Chloé signature has the potential to become a top-10 fragrance worldwide.”

To help spur this, the executive counts on innovation, newness, steady investment and a ramped-up involvement in the digital space.

“When Hannah MacGibbon [a former artistic director at Chloé] created the fragrance 10 years ago, what she clearly wanted to do was to express the natural femininity of Chloé,” said de la Bourdonnaye, who added the designer also desired to break the codes of traditional perfumery.

That included choosing a squarish bottle, giving a more masculine look, with glass meant to look pleated, like one of the house’s blouses. The flacon also comes with a delicate, beige-pink grosgrain ribbon tied around its neck.

Chloé signature’s juice, created by Robertet perfumer Michel Almairac and Amandine Clerc-Marie, who since left the fragrance maker, has at its core the rose, which is enhanced by notes such as peony, lychee, freesia, white musk and amber.

The ad image with Sevigny, Poesy and Rubik “was a very simple portrait, but you could see that the personality of these three girls was captivating and quite arresting,” de la Bourdonnaye said.

“The Chloé girl — by definition — is not every woman,” he continued. “She is a woman who dares to be herself…without any artifice. That message was from Gaby Aghion, the founder of Chloé, and was really obvious in the first campaign, in the first bottle and scent of [the signature fragrance].

“The wake, the trace that perfume leaves behind is very much in sync with the personality of the Chloé girl,” continued de la Bourdonnaye, who describes her as being striking but in a discreet way.

“When a fragrance becomes timeless like this one, becomes an icon, you have kind of a perfect mix,” Cattaneo said.

Perfume is one of Chloé’s four product categories, alongside bags, ready-to-wear and shoes.

Chloé’s long-term license with Coty began in 2005. The house’s designer has always been involved in the conception of Chloé fragrances, and its latest, Natacha Ramsay-Levi, will be no different.

“We are looking forward to working with the new creative force at Chloé,” Huber said.

In the more immediate future, a new scent will join the Chloé perfume franchise this fall.

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